What makes us human?

[Frogman]

from St Leo

We are not different from animals. All attempts to differentiate us from our brethren have been blindingly pathetic, arbitrary, and self-serving (whether consciously or subconsciously).

Not different from the other animals? Thats just stupid. We have been to the moon and back. When some archeologist from some other species a million years from now starts going through the fossil record, they are going to find a marked difference when we showed up. We are a whole different sort of animal then has ever walked the planet before. It would be obvious to them, and it should be obvious to us.

[Giant_Squid]

"The ability to weasel out of things is what differentiates us from the animals. Except, of course, the weasel."

The best serious answer I can give this, other than the standard copout "a little bit of everything", would be the ability to think, being particularly impressed with our ability to think in hypotheticals "IF I grow crops, THEN I won't have to hunt mammoth all day" and with reason, which allows us to evaluate the desirability of these hypotheticals. I would say that all the things above stem from these two abilities, with the possible exception of language, which Non-Denominational Supreme Being only knows WHERE that came from.

[St Leo]

We have been to the moon and back.

So?

Naturally, my definition of "different" considers a lion and a wheat stalk to be the same.

When some archeologist from some other species a million years from now starts going through the fossil record, they are going to find a marked difference when we showed up.

Yes. In the stratum between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary, there's a distinct layer of Iridium. In the stratum between the Tertiary and the Holocene (?), there will be a distinct layer of carbon dioxide.

BTW, archaeologists seldom deal with things more than twenty thousand years old.

We are a whole different sort of animal then has ever walked the planet before.

Well, yeah. There is no other animal out there that could be impregnated by or impregnate a human. That makes us a different sort of animal.

[VetLegion]

The best serious answer I can give this, other than the standard copout "a little bit of everything", would be the ability to think, being particularly impressed with our ability to think in hypotheticals "IF I grow crops, THEN I won't have to hunt mammoth all day" and with reason, which allows us to evaluate the desirability of these hypotheticals. I would say that all the things above stem from these two abilities, with the possible exception of language, which Non-Denominational Supreme Being only knows WHERE that came from.

Computers can do hypotheticals even better then we can.

Next

[Frogman]

The thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to change and create. We aren't driven by instinct. We can eat anything, live anywhere, and adapt to changing environments. I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say we have dominated the planet like no other species before. Sure cockroaches are hardy too, but they don't have the ability to change their behavior like we do.

from St Leo

BTW, archaeologists seldom deal with things more than twenty thousand years old.

Speaking before you think on this one. Why is it that archeologists only go back 20,000 years? Could it be that there was no civilization to study before that? A million years from now archeologists will be able to study civilizations much older than 20,000 years, and it all begins with us.

[Giant_Squid]

Computers can do hypotheticals even better then we can.

Not so. A computer is unable to consider any case it hasn't been programmed to consider. If I write a program one way, the computer is unable to just go think "Hey, what if I decided to do it this way instead today?".

[St Leo]

A million years from now archeologists will be able to study civilizations much older than 20,000 years, and it all begins with us.

How well would the artifacts of a civilization weather 500 millions years? A billion years?

[ravagon]

Originally posted by St Leo

How well would the artifacts of a civilization weather 500 millions years? A billion years?

Well if you somehow manage to define purified Uranium (as opposed to ore) as an artifact, then probably pretty well.

[ravagon]

I once heard that a defining feature of humankind is the ability to act against ones instincts.

[St Leo]

/me hits ravagon's knee with a mallet
/me watches him kick the air

You inferior untermenshten! To the death camps with you and your animal kind!

[VetLegion]

Not so. A computer is unable to consider any case it hasn't been programmed to consider.

Not true. What do you mean by 'consider'? Computer can act in new circuimstances for sure.

If I write a program one way, the computer is unable to just go think "Hey, what if I decided to do it this way instead today?".

And a human is? I can say human 'free will' is the equivalent of Random() function in any computer program.

[OPD]

Theory of Mind is what sets us apart IMO. It developes between 5 & 7 and is best described as the ability to see the world from other peoples view or an understanding that other people have minds and act according to their own self rather than just in accordance with the enviroment.

A four year old can't hide something as they can't comprehend that what someone else knows would be different from what they know.

Animals hide food but thats just instictive behaviour.

Once Humans developed TOM a great step was taken and all maner of things like were possible like trading rather than just taking stuff you want from people.

[VetLegion]

Hmm. OPD, consider a robot based on neural networks, whose 'inner working' we havent programmed and therefore do not really understand.

If it can produce such behaviour, like trading, is it human?

Maybe it could learn that taking stuff is dangerous by trial and error and evolve a trade-like behaviour?

[St Leo]

Animals hide food but thats just instictive behaviour.

Have you ever been one of those to whom you refer as "animals"?

[Elok]

I put "banana."
The real difference is that only humans take time to answer questions like this. Other animals wouldn't bother when they could be eating, drinking, or humping something.
Now, if somebody out there IS eating, drinking, and humping something while answering this post, I don't need to know.